The Road To Organisational Fitness

Transforming a business from a collection of disconnected units to an efficient global enterprise is a big challenge. A supportive culture and an engaged workforce are crucial.

Operating as a global enterprise can drive efficiency and productivity … but most companies still operate as a fragmented collection of disconnected autonomous units. Each unit competes for its own budget, and is often incentivised to succeed in its own right rather than succeed for the greater good of the enterprise.

Driving the necessary culture change so your company can evolve from one shape to the other is notoriously hard.

Getting it wrong can leave employees demotivated and make matters worse.

Change agents can be the key that unlocks the door to change. But they can only thrive in the right conditions. They can only work their influencer magic if their leaders are brave enough to let them—and if the organisation is in shape.

Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast

Organisational strategies may look great on paper, but, unless they are implemented by an engaged workforce and supported by a strong culture and operating model, they are little more than clever narrative.

No two cultures are the same. Nor should they be. But every company has one. Have you really stood back and taken a long, hard look at yours? Is it fit for purpose? Is it supporting success—or actively standing in its way?

Which one of these four main culture types feels familiar?

The Hierarchy: structured, controlled, firmly focused on “doing things right.” Machine-like efficiency, stability, bureaucracy, rigidity, formality, inflexible working hours. Perfect for the industrial age. Not so much for now.

The Market-Oriented: set up to tailor products to meet the demands of customer. These companies have their antennae finely tuned and are set up to respond swiftly to shifts in market need. These companies are all about results, competition, achievement, “getting the job done …” There are clearly costs attached to operating this way and you’d better make sure your technology and data tool choices are exactly right.

The Clan: Do your employees operate as a tribe? Do they lunch together? Hang out together outside of work? Are consensus, commonality, and collaboration core to your culture? Sounds great, but these types of companies can lack diversity and can silence the uncomfortable sound of dissent.

Then there’s the much referenced relatively new-fangled Adhocracy (derived, in case you haven’t realised, from the term ad hoc). The focus is on risk-taking, innovation, and “doing things first.” All well and good so long as the innovations hit the spot and succeed.

There is no right and no wrong, and no clear dividing lines, but, as with everything, there is always room for improvement.

Stand back, take a long hard look, and make sure you’re not on the dangerous “it’s the way things have always been done” treadmill, standing still, waiting for the market to tip you from thrive to demise.

Stare the truth in the face. Assess the reality of now. Identify the cultural traits that are misaligned with your business aims, and imagine how they can be improved.

What does your destination culture look like? Which behaviours will be appropriate? How can you incentivise these behaviours?

Once you can answer these questions, you can chart your course to successful culture change.

Clear consistent messaging is crucial. Measuring, reporting, and celebrating desired behaviours is key.

You Are What You Measure

Well-designed and clearly defined KPIs are super-important, as is clear and consistent communication of the reasoning behind why those things are important to the company. Many of the companies I’ve worked with have KPIs that actively work against organisational cohesiveness and productivity. It is frustrating to be judged on volume when quality makes so much more sense. Why be judged on how many hours you’re in the office when working from home may produce better results?

Dan Ariely, the behavioural economics guru, shares the fascinating results of a couple of simple experiments that show the importance of meaning in the workplace in this talk. I strongly recommend you watch it.

When you’ve designed a smart holistic incentivisation plan, reward and celebrate achievement as much and often as you can.

Cisco, as an example, having decided a shift towards more collaborative cross-organisational cultures would drive productivity, redesigned its structures accordingly. All organisational structures—KPIs, bonuses, internal reward schemes, stock options—were focused on driving collaboration and encouraging employees to act as a team to support enterprise success.

Profit From Purpose And Progress

All cultures are driven from the very top. The most effective leaders understand profit is generated by motivated employees. Motivation is driven by the three Ps: Progress, Passion, and Purpose.

Gold star companies such as Nike, Apple, and Google hire inspiring, dynamic visible leaders who leverage a clearly defined vision. Employees who buy into a strong vision will rally around it, and deliver above and beyond the call of duty. Such is the power of purpose.

They realise that vision and purpose are central to successful strategy—that the best way to drive profit is to harness the power of purpose and the science of storytelling.

Once you have a clearly defined cultural plan, and have hired leaders to lead the journey, the talent will take care of itself.

If people buy into the organisational “why”—a shared mission—the right talent will march proudly alongside their leaders, rather than resist being dragged along by them.

Remember, competitors can copy products. They can copy services. But they can never copy culture.